From around the state, lawmakers, child advocates, mayors and college officials expressed outrage and disappointment yesterday over Gov. Chris Christie’s liberal use of the line-item veto on the budget enacted by the Democratic Legislature.

Christie slashed almost a billion dollars from the Democrats’ $30.6 billion budget that had restored spending for education, health care and tax credits for the working poor, aid to the state’s struggling cities and — in what was widely viewed as revenge for spurning his own budget — cuts to the Legislature.

The governor then signed the budget he had trimmed to $29.7 billion before the fiscal year ended at midnight Thursday, and Democratic hopes of overriding his veto are seemingly slim.

"New Jersey should be working harder to protect children from abuse and neglect, not pulling the plug on programs that work for children," said Nancy Erika Smith of the Newark-based Wynona Lipman Child Advocacy Center, which helps sexually and physically abused children.

Christie cut $537,000, or 75 percent, of the center’s financing, which Smith called "disgusting."

Christie introduced a $29.6 spending plan earlier this year that provided modest increases in school financing and property tax rebates, while slashing Medicaid and other programs aimed at the state’s most vulnerable residents. Democrats countered this week with their own ill-fated proposal that identified savings and increased spending by nearly $1 billion.

Christie and fellow Republicans sharply criticized the Democratic proposal as a political "ponzi scheme" built on fake revenue estimates and bogus savings. He said he had no choice but to cut about $900 million from a budget that he said would be unbalanced and unconstitutional.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) called Christie’s veto, which trimmed not only the Democratic add-ons but parts of his own budget, "cynical and overtly political."

"The only people that benefit in Chris Christie’s new normal are economically well-off, white and male."

The governor’s office declined to answer questions about specific cuts yesterday, including why some programs were chopped and others were not.

"Now let’s not start going down that road," Christie said at news conference Thursday. "I’m not going to be answering every one of these. Because we can’t afford it."

URBAN AID

Christie gutted the financing, known as the transitional aid fund, for the state’s most distressed cities, cutting a program that had already been scaled back from $149 million in his first budget to $10 million.

In cities like Camden, which received $69 million in special aid last year, and Trenton, which got $27 million, having to split $10 million with a handful of cities could be devastating.

"We are not going to have safe streets, clean streets or paved streets," said Assemblyman Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-Mercer), whose district includes Trenton. "This is outrageous, mean-spirited, cruel and vindictive."

In Paterson, where more than $22 million in the special aid constituted 12 percent of the city’s budget last year, Mayor Jeffrey Jones said "everybody’s shocked."

"We’re going to start looking at those implications," Jones said. "That can include any number of things and they’ll probably be extreme."

Christie also vetoed $50 million to rehire police and firefighters and $47 million for Urban Enterprise Zones, designed to stimulate economies by creating jobs.

Video: Christie line item vetoes budgetGov. Chris Christie gutted the state budget today using the line item veto. Calling the Democrats budget a fantasy, Christie cut $900 million out of the proposed budget. (Video by Megan DeMarco / The Star-Ledger)

Some critics said yesterday that Christie’s cuts to the cities — combined with reductions for social services — was reflective of his apathy toward low-income residents.

"It seems to be an assault on the poor, an assault on the most vulnerable," said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. "It’s going to have an effect on quality of life and community stability."
HIGHER EDUCATION

Christie eliminated $55 million in college tuition grants, mostly for low-income students, removing not only the additional spending Democrats had proposed but also funds from his budget.

"This spending plan, without a doubt, is another setback for college opportunity and affordability," said Darryl Greer, director of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Other casualties included personnel cuts at state colleges and law school programs at Rutgers in Newark and Camden as well as Seton Hall University that provide legal services for low-income offenders.

A higher education task force led by Christie’s mentor, former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, has recommended that the state borrow money to increase financing for education.

CHILD CARE

Christie cut $3 million that Democrats tried to restore for a popular program known as NJ After 3, which is intended to keep children off the streets after school.

"We are devastated," said Mark Valli, head of the program that accommodates about 5,000 urban students.

Valli said they leveraged the $3 million this year to attract $4 million in private investment, but that "without the state funding, that goes away."

The non-profit, which once received $15 million in state funding, has six full-time and three part-time employees.

Overall, Christie’s budget expects to save $30 million on child care and after-school programs that benefit immigrants, welfare recipients and the working poor by adding co-pays, reducing subsidies, and imposing new income and attendance requirements.
MEDICAID

More than $500 million in Medicaid spending was cut, which will require the elderly and disabled to receive care from HMO’s for the first time, in some cases losing their doctors. In addition, only adults whose income is one-third of the poverty rate will be able to enroll.

The changes are part of Christie’s overhaul of Medicaid, which still must be approved by the federal government.

"It’s a major loss of services to working people — a group that has been hit the hardest,’’ said Ray Castro of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal research group.

He said in many cases the same family could lose their Earned Income Tax Credit, FamilyCare and child care — all of which Democrats unsucessfully tried to restore.

NURSING HOMES

Nursing homes will see state and federal funds cut by $75 million, which industry officials say will cripple an industry that is already ailing.

"We are at a loss to explain why this happened," said Paul Langevin, president of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, which represents 300 nursing homes.

The budget cuts Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes by 3 percent, and eliminates subsidies for nursing homes that have to leave beds unoccupied while a patient is hospitalized.

Overall, Christie proposed cutting about $37.5 million, which the federal government matchesk, for a total loss in Mediacid funds of $75 million, according to Langevin.
LEGISLATIVE CUTS

Assembly and Senate budgets were slashed by about $3.7 million, surprising Democrats and Republicans alike since no one had sought cuts to any of the $29 million that goes toward staff salaries.

The accounts are controlled by the Democratic majority, which could force Republicans to bear the brunt of the cuts. "I am certainly not going to shoot myself in the foot," said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex).

Christie foiled a controversial attempt by Democrats to steer money from the New Jersey Council on the Arts to the Newark Museum, Battleship New Jersey and the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton.

The Democrats’ budget included grants of $2.1 million for the Newark Museum, $1.7 million for the battleship and $375,000 for the barracks out of $16 million earmarked for the council.

But arts leaders complained because they said it left them with less money for the nonprofit arts community and undermined the council’s independent oversight.

Historically, $4.2 million for the three sites came from dedicated line items in the general budget, but Christie changed that during his first year in office.

"The entire arts community owes a debt of gratitude to the governor for interceding to ensure that the arts council is funded at the level at which it was intended," said Mark Packer, president of ArtPride NJ, the statewide arts advocacy organization.

The lack of guaranteed money for the three sites leaves them in a state of limbo. Richard Patterson, executive director of the Old Barracks Museum, which celebrates the American Revolution, said the organization is in serious jeopardy.